I decided to make the steering chain from 1 mm diameter copper wire. I first made a nut and bolt wire bender but was unhappy with the shape of the links. So decided to make a tool to do the job (actually 2 tools) the wire bender and a wire guillotine to maintain a constant cut length.
Nut and bolt wire bender
![](resources/wire_guillotine/IMG_4435.jpg.opt650x487o0%2C0s650x487.jpg)
![](resources/wire_guillotine/IMG_4440.jpg.opt650x487o0%2C0s650x487.jpg)
Wire bender
![](resources/IMG_4479.jpg.opt650x487o0%2C0s650x487.jpg)
![](resources/IMG_4481.jpg.opt650x487o0%2C0s650x487.jpg)
![](resources/IMG_4478.jpg.opt650x487o0%2C0s650x487.jpg)
![](resources/IMG_4483.jpg.opt650x487o0%2C0s650x487.jpg)
![](resources/IMG_4485.jpg.opt650x487o0%2C0s650x487.jpg)
In total approximately 120 links are required